Which leaf (leaves) to remove?

[CostaRicaFJ62]

Hi,

My rig has 6 leafs in the front spring packs and 8 on the rears. Used to have a winch and bullbar, but not now. It does have a 6 foot heavy steel roof rack.

The truck rides very harshly. Like sore back harshly after mild wheeling. Also has no flex.

Until I can buy a nice lift kit, I was thinking of removing the extra leaf in the front and one of the two extra leaves in the rear. I figured I'd leave one extra in the rear since I have the roof rack on. I don't want any saggy back end, but I would like some flex.

So here's short list my questions:

1. What would you do?

2. Remove one leaf from the front packs?

3. Which leaf?

4. Remove one or two leaves from the rear packs?

5. Which leaf or leaves?

I'd like it to ride a bit more and less if possible.


Thanks for the input.

Jason

 

[lovetoski]

Hi Jason,

Which leaf to remove depends on the configuration of your spring pack. If it's an OME (for example) with additional leafs added, then these would be the ones to remove. The other option is to remove from the bottom (shortest), until you like the ride. Post a pic, and then we can chime in with more specific advice.

 

[sandcruiser]

hey Jason, welcome to the list!
Nice to see that I'm no longer the only mudder in Costa Rica... vaguely amazing to me that in this country full of cruisers, only two of us have found this resource.

As for leaves- can you take a picture of the springpack(s)? Probably you've got an add a leaf in there somewhere (tico mechanics love add a leafs)- pulling that should smooth things out.

If you have an overload leaf (more or less straight) on the bottom, it won't help to pull the shortest leaf as that only gets engaged as you approach the bump stops... pull the leaf above it instead.

Regardless, pictures help!

Pura Vida

 

[Tapage]

Pura vida mae .. !

You have a OME springs or other mark . ?

Is important this information, but in this case the situation is be a little more complex. But if you have a custom ( Latin hahahaha ) springs, maybe is more easey pull out one of the more thick leave.

 

[RoddQLD]

My cruiser used to have a winch. When I worked on the leaf springs I could see that one of the leaves was different to the others as the ends of that leaf had a different shape and it was slightly thicker. I believe that it had been added when the winch was installed, so I had the leaf removed and the springs reset nearly 2" higher.
Having the leaves reset by a blacksmith isn't very expensive.
The front of my truck rides softer now, and is more flexible (in articulation) than the back!

 

[CostaRicaFJ62]

Hi Sandcruiser,

Pura Vida! You surf?

Thanks for the welcome. This board is indeed a real treasure of a resource.

I am out of pic space, so I could take some and e-mail them. or maybe dump the pics from the old intro post I did a couple of months ago.

Regarding the springs, I have the extra leaves curved in the spring pack as add-a-leaves. I have been able to identify them since they have thicker ends. They are Toyota according to the paperwork that I have.

I bought the truck three years ago and it had hooibly stiff extr thick add-a leaves. A friend of mine with another 60 series had overloads on his and that is what I wanted the spring shop to do, but since my Spanish was poor at that point, they replaced the really thick add-a-leafs on the rears with a OEM leaf that was thinner. They also replaced the third longest leaf in each front spring pack with the same thickness leaf. (Front had the really thick ones, too.) I think the PO had rear jump seats along with the winch/steel bullbar, so that would account for the kidney-killing suspension.

I am leaning now towards removing all the extra leaves and see what happens. Since the packs were so stiff they leaves never really flexed much. I assume this would mean that the metal is not fatigued?

One other thing, when the spring shop put wverything together, they re-arched the springs a bit too high, so the rear springs' shackle angle is a bit too upright. it hasn't mattered since there is NO flex.

Should I have the springs arched back to factory specs while they are all apart? I am inclined to do so, but imagine that the springs will set flatter with less leaves.



I see that RoddQLD re-arched his after removing the extra leaves. Any comment on that, Rodd? Whay'd you do it? Nice rig, by the way.


Tapage,

The springs are factory Toyota as far as I can tell.

Good to see los Canaleros kick some butt in the Gold Cup. They really fought hard in the final. I have good friends who are Panamanian.

Pura Vida, back at you!

 

[RoddQLD]

I'd try removing the leaves rather than having them set lower. You will find that if you remove the really thick leaves it will sag more anyway.
When I had my front leaves done the blacksmith removed the extra leaf and then reset them as far as he could (2"?). Overall, this only added about an extra 0.5" (12mm or so). My 4WD was already sitting higher than standard so I didn't need to go much higher anyway.

Very few 60 series cruisers in Australia sit as low as the standard American 60 series cruisers. So, either they were built here with the 2" lift, or most people put in 2" higher springs when the springs were eventually replaced.

BTW: when you remove any leaves then remove the heavy 'add-a-leaf' first. If you remove any other leaves try to keep the spring so that the distance between the ends of each leaf is about the same (if you have that choice) as it spreads the load over the spring better.

Also, if you can afford it replace any rubber shackle bushes with Neoprene ones and grease them with lithium grease. If you need to replace the shackles and pins then try to get hold of greasable versions (they have grease nipples machined into the ends of the bolts!)

Lastly, while the springs are apart smear grease between them!

 

[Tapage]

Pura Vida! You surf?

when I more younger .. actually you know .. a lots of responsabilites ..

Tapage, The springs are factory Toyota as far as I can tell.

I thought isn't a good idea reaching the springs .. if you want some little lift go with more than stock shackles ..

Good to see los Canaleros kick some butt in the Gold Cup. They really fought hard in the final. I have good friends who are Panamanian. Pura Vida, back at you!

Yep .. our team play awsome in the gld cup .. they are our heroes ..

 

[sandcruiser]

pull the addaleaf(s)
grease the packs while stuff is apart
load up some boards
rally the dog s*** out of it cruisin down the Camino del Sol (coastal 'highway') on the Nicoya Peninsula from Nosara to Tamarindo. If that road doesn't settle the springs out, nothing will.
Best part is that when your back gets tired from the road, you can surf for an hour or two before continuing on.
Or maybe we can set up a date with David and cruise down to Panama to meet him. All sorts of fun options!

 

[Tapage]

For sure .. ! but we can meet in Bocas del Toro, to get a real good surf .. overthere.